lesson plans

A new lesson plan about Tonto NM, one of the first national monuments,
educates youth about how the passage of the Antiquities Act preserved
important cultural sites, such as those at Tonto that represent the Salado
culture prior to European contact.

In this lesson plan, students learn about the significance of the Act
in the conservation of American open spaces, the role of the President
in conserving natural resources in the 20th century, and the pros and
cons of granting discretionary authority to the President to create national
monuments.

The lesson plan complements the exhibit Fragile Antiquities
on view at the Museum through September 2006. Students consider questions
about the impetus for the Antiquities Act and its relationship to the
preservation of materials from ancient cultures.

readings

The Antiquities Act of 1906.
Ronald F. Lee, National Park Service, Department of the Interior, Washington,
DC. Originally published 1970, electronic edition, 2000.

In
the Beginning, Preservation Online: The Back Page, May/June 2006.
Dwight Young.

The Antiquities Act 1906-2006, a themed issue of Ranger: The Journal
of the Association of National Park Rangers 22:3, Summer 2006. Copies
may be ordered for $5 apiece.

The Antiquities Act: A Century of American Archaeology, Historic
Preservation, and Nature Conservation. Edited by David Harmon, Francis
P. McManamon, and Dwight Pitcaithley, The University of Arizona Press,
Tucson, 2006.

useful lists of national monuments

Frequently Asked Questions (doc): lists of national
monuments designated by Congress, name and designation changes, abolished
sites, and the acreages presidents proclaimed into national monuments.